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19.10.15

Turn a Sad Dress into a Happy Dress!

I've lost all my awkward-I'm-growing-into-a-woman hormonal chubbiness and discovered that I'm like three sizes smaller than I thought I was. The waist on just about every skirt I own is needing some safety pins and the bigger the shirt the more....issues you have with layering and low necklines and you get my vibe what I'm saying here without the necessary run on sentence (right?) Good.

My mother blessed me with a dress from Lands End (Lands End!) sometime back then. This dress is perfect. It's black, it's super comfy, the neckline isn't plunging, and it's well below knee length. I'm telling you, finding a dress like this is usually impossible. <--- No sarcasm whatsoever.

The only sadness was the dropped waist (ehhhhhasdflkj.....) and the rather unfittedness that looked funny when I paired it with a cardigan. The pain is real when you try to put a sweater over a shirt/dress that has baggy sleeves. Ew. Pet peeve, too.

This has forever been on my "please sew me" list. And a few days ago, I finally took the initiative to knock some of my clothes down a size and maybe move them to the "wearable" section of my closet.

Looking back, I wished I would've invested in the proper thread + needle + technique for sewing with knits. I forgot all the "grrs" that come with knit fabric. :) (I also used white thread...which there is a small patch I need to fix. Just pretend you don't see it.)

I completely separated the skirt and bodice to make my alterations easier. It was intimidating, but worth it! And now I have a comfy, cozy, casual black dress that I would totally wear in a heartbeat. Yay. :)

P.s. Pardon the messy hair and weird selfies. My books-on-coffee-table-tripod didn't work out as smoothly as I had planned...

Bravo! I am a miserable, impatient seamstress (so much for being a fashion designer when you hate sewing. oh dear.) But good on you for having the patience to do it, and a delightful result! I do love a good DIY.

It looks wonderful, Bethany! Good job. I finally tackled my "adding-a-kickpleat-to-a-much too-long-slit-in-a-skirt" project. It looks terrible on the underside, but I guess it did the trick. You're a much better DIY seamstress than I.